Gregory J. Shepherd

Gregory J. ShepherdDean, University of Miami School of Communication

Gregory J. Shepherd became dean of the University of Miami’s School of Communication on July 1, 2011. A distinguished communication faculty member and administrator for nearly 30 years at several major universities, he was previously dean of Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication.

Shepherd joined Ohio University in 2001 as professor and director of the School of Communication Studies; he was named interim dean in 2004 and dean in 2006. The Scripps College consists of five schools, a variety of centers and institutes, PBS television and radio stations, more than 90 full-time faculty members, and approximately 2,750 undergraduate and graduate students.

Major accomplishments under his leadership included securing a $15 million naming gift from the Scripps Howard Foundation in 2006, a $7.5 million lead gift from an alumnus to build a new facility for the college and more than $1 million in scholarship donations; leading the effort that resulted in the college being named a “Center of Excellence” by the Ohio Board of Regents; and overseeing the development of the Game Research and Immersive Design (GRID) Lab, which received more than $1 million in funding, primarily from the Department of Homeland Security.

Before joining Ohio University, Shepherd was an assistant and associate professor at the University of Kansas from 1989 to 2001 and an assistant professor at the University of Iowa from 1983 to 1989.

Shepherd received a doctorate degree in speech communication from the University of Illinois, a master’s degree in speech communication from Pennsylvania State University, and a bachelor’s degree in speech communication from the University of Minnesota.

Shepherd’s primary scholarly interests are in communication theory and American pragmatism. He is a winner of the Central States Communication Association Outstanding Young Teacher Award as well as a W. T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence. He is co-editor with Eric Rothenbuhler of Communication and Community (2001, LEA), and co-editor with Jeff St. John and Ted Striphas of Communication as ... : Perspectives on Theory (2006, Sage). He also has published extensively in scholarly journals, including Communication Monographs, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Communication Yearbook, Communication Studies, Southern Journal of Communication, Communication Research, Journal of Social Psychology, Management Communication Quarterly, and Journal of Research and Development in Education.